The Pirates have 52 games left and if they lose 11 of them, they will clinch their 18th straight losing season... a pretty safe bet I would say.Well finally the Pirates are saying "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" and diagnosed the problem as being pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and bench coach Gary Varsho. So they were fired.
A couple of baseball lifers (who each served as an interim manager in the big leagues) are shown the door... and not a minute too soon.
Clearly THEY were what was keeping the Pirates down. They are one Orioles winning streak from being the worst team in baseball, but with all the talent on this roster, it is clearly the COACHING staff's fault.
I mean with such pitching studs as Charlie Morton, Brad Lincoln and Brian Burres in the staff, they should be shutting down opponents left and right. It's kind of like looking at the Braves staff in the early 1990s... so much talent that it isn't even fair.
And they have veterans to give the team some stability. Heck they just brought in Chan Ho Park. He's always good.
Meanwhile the line up... wow! When you have Ronny Cedeno, Andy LaRoche and Jeff Clement coming up to bat, who can you pitch around?
Clearly the talent is there... and the front office has done all they can to make the team better. Last year I pointed out all of their recent first round pick disasters... and GM Neal Huntington has managed to trade the likes of Jason Pay, Nate McLouth, Adam LaRoche and Freddy Sanchez and get virtually nothing in return...
And the Pirates non tendered Matt Capps, who went on to be an All Star for the Nationals and netted a great catching prospect in Wilson Ramos for Washington while the Pirates go exactly gotch.
But those are flukes. It's obvious the talent is there and the GM has done THEIR job.
So let's shake up the coaching staff!
No doubt this will help lead the Pirates to the promise land.
(But not to .500... let's not go crazy here.)
First of all, Charlie Morton, Brad Lincoln and Brian Burres are not on the pitching staff. All are in AAA. Was it all Kerrigan's fault? Of course not but when you have the 28th team ERA why would you keep him? The Pirates problem is the pitching staff so Kerrigan became the scapegoat.
ReplyDeleteAs for Varso ... rumors were that many players didn't like him.
Watch a game. LaRoche and Clement are bench guys. LaRoche has started ONE game since Alvarez' call-up.
And Matt Capps sucks. You know it.
Wow....did you seriously use Nate Mclouth, Freddy Sanchez, and Jason Bay to make your point? One is back in AAA, one can't stay healthy and has been awful when he's played, and Bay has been a disappointment in NY. Not one of those guys would make the Pirates a better team.
ReplyDeleteWhen all of those players were traded, they were considered prime trade bait... and yet for decades the Pirates have gotten fleeced every time they set out to deal veterans.
ReplyDeleteThe Red Sox felt Bay was worth Manny Ramirez... you'd think the Pirates would get... oh I don't know... a major leaguer
Wow, Just wow, You don't live in Pittsburgh, yet all you do is bash the Bucco's. Why are the failed first round picks being brought up again, That happened under Dave Littlefield, NOT Neal Huntington. In three years as GM he has taken the best player on the broad in two out of three drafts. the year he did was not was for a need and it worked out well so far. Not all trades are going to work out, but you fail to look at the whole deal. McLouth has failed with Atlanta, but the little know minor leaguer we got by the name of Jeff Locke is pitching well in AA. ( look him up he is on Twitter) Same goes with Bryan Morris who came over in the Bay Trade. Lets see Neal also turned 3 bums in Chris Snyder a player YOUR Red Sox were looking at, also got 3 million and another player for 3 bums. Then later that day turned a 36 year old Closer in to James McDonald and Andrew Lambo, who were just a year ago the Dodgers top two Prospects. I am so sick of people that know nothing about the Pirates yet bash them up and down the river, Both Joe and Gary are Locker room Cancer, Here read for yourself, Brett Myers said bluntly,"If Joe Kerrigan was stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire, I'd just keep on driving." Joe Torre wrote of his mistrust of Kerrigan in his 2009 book "The Yankee Years" that the veteran manager collaborated on with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci. Torre felt Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had hired Kerrigan as bullpen coach in order to serve as a clubhouse spy for the front office. Meanwhile, Varsho was a fan favorite during his time as a Pirates reserve outfielder. However, he was fired as Philadelphia's bench coach following the 2006 season with a sullied reputation. Many in the Phillies' organization felt Varsho tried to undermine manager Charlie Manuel by suggesting to various front-office types that it was he, and not Manuel, who was making the strategic moves in the dugout. So you have a mic in the Pirates locker room or something to know this was not the case? Or do you just like to kick people when there down? I look at your blog a lot and I am going to say this you Kick the Pittsburgh Kansas City and Baltimore around a lot when there down, I DON'T EVER EVER WHAT TO HEAR YOU TALK ABOUT ANY OF THEM WHEN THERE WINNING. OH BTW How that Brewers winning the NL Central this year doing for you, All give you the fact you were a year early on the Reds, but any one with a brain and any know-age of baseball would know a healthy Cardinals team would win the weak NL Central EASILY. oh and for the Record I picked 7 out the 8 play off teams last year. When you pick next year let me know maybe I can Help you out.
ReplyDeleteI struck a nerve.
ReplyDeleteI, believe it or not, like the Pirates. I want them to do well. I've written a lot about the Pirates BECAUSE I want them to do well (and I have warm memories of the 1979 Pirates and the Jim Leyland Pirates.)
Now Mike, I WANT the Pirates to win. (I don't necessarily want the Orioles to win because they are in the Red Sox division.)
I would go out on a limb and say besides the Red Sox and the Giants (my dad's team) the Pirates winning it all would be next in line for team I want to see win.
Now of course Dave Littlefield was possibly the worst GM in baseball history, but I am not going to crown Huntington anything until the team actually rises.
If the Pirates have a winning season under Huntington, then I will sing his praises. This is year three and without a powerhouse in the division they are still not a factor. Teams can turn around quickly... and I am not talking about a World Series winner. I'm talking about striving for .500.
As for my picks... hey, I am the first to admit my picks tend to stink. Sometimes I over think it, sometimes I go with my gut... and I often make fun of my picks on this site (last year I made my playoff predictions and compared them to my mother in law and my wife's picks - neither follow baseball - my twin 4 year old son's picks - and the flip of a coin.
My boy Aidan picked most of the right
This is a tongue in cheek blog. And I want the Pirates to be good... and I am sick of the excuses. 18 years is long enough to put a .500 team on the field.
But thanks for reading the blog
Just kind of getting sick of all the bad pr, I do agree with you about Littlefield tho, When you make a pick you just got to look at the team, see what they lost and or added, and go from there, The Rays were my missed pick last year. I have the Sox Winning the East and the Rays as Wild Card Champs, Don't get me wrong I want a winner here too, I was 7 in 92, so I really don't have much of memories of winning baseball, Tho I do remember going a game in 92 vs the Mets and Bonds win a 2 run homer in the 8th to win the game. But after that is mostly all losing, tho the 97 season was fun. I want them to start small, I was hoping they win around 75 games this year then go from there to a winning season, but i don't see this team winning 60 this year. We need Pitching and we need it bad, We need to sign some this off season, b/c are best pitchers are in AA right now. And sorry if there was any bashing on the Sox, I am a Red Sox fan since 2001, I also am a big Twins fan, but the Pirates will always come first. If you ever want some inside on the bucco's i'd love to help, I fallow you on Twitter.
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